Archive for December, 2012

Pretend you’re sitting on Santa’s lap.

If there’s one prospect that could wish for … for your favorite college football team, who would it be?

Post the prospect’s name and college team below, i.e. Robert Nkemdiche for Ole Miss. Or for Alabama, LSU, Clemson or whomever.

Just to make things interesting, we’ll only allow Santa wishes for uncommitted prospects, even though some of the committed prospects will surely waver over the next five weeks.

If you’re UGA, who do you put atop your wishlist?

Some would think the top priority would be 5-star LT Laremy Tunsil. That would give UGA Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall as tailbacks, with Tunsil and John Theus at tackles for the next few years. Some would ask Santa for 5-star DT Montravius Adams with the Bulldogs being wiped out on defense next year due to graduation and early NFL departures. Or there’s RB Alvin Kamara.

If you’re Georgia Tech, this class could be full already but the Yellow Jackets will likely add one or two more …

Continue reading Which football recruit is on your Christmas wishlist? »

Georgia is one of the nation’s top five states in producing college football players: Around 200 of the state’s high school seniors will sign with FBS schools in February.

LB Chase Alford

Despite the big numbers, there are still plenty of prospects that get overlooked. We’ll take a look at some of them over the next month.

One guy to watch is LB Chase Alford of Heritage High School in Conyers.

Alford got two big honors within the last week: He was named Defensive MVP of the East team in an all-star football game at the Georgia Dome, and was also named Region 8-AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year.

The 6-foot-2, 235-pounder will also play in two more all-star games, including the North-South game on Dec. 29.

Alford has gotten overlooked by college scouts, and some of it has to do with playing football in Rockdale County, which is becoming more known for its football each year.

He’s a stellar student with a 4.01 GPA, and his older brother walked on at Georgia Tech.

The younger …

Continue reading Overlooked prospect: LB Chase Alford »

Last year, the SEC passed new rules on “over-signing,” including an annual 25-man limit for conference teams.

This year, UGA coach Mark Richt told the AJC that he expects to finish with a recruiting class of between 30-35 players. The Bulldogs already have 30 commitments for 2013, with at least a couple of more targets on both sides of the ball.

How can that be? How can UGA sign 30-35 if there’s a new rule with a 25-man limit?

“Early enrollees.”

Both UGA and Alabama will take advantage of the SEC's loophole in its over-signing rules, especially the Bulldogs, which could finish with a super-sized class of 35 (AP)

The recruiting term will soon, if it’s not already, be as famous as over-signing, which is defined as a college team signing more recruits than they have scholarships available. Over-signing was made famous by coaches like Houston Nutt and Nick Saban.

Early enrollees is the loophole when the SEC talked tough and passed the over-signing rules last year. What …

Continue reading How can UGA sign 30-35 recruits under the SEC’s new over-signing rules? »

New Georgia State football coach Trent Miles picked up two more commitments over the weekend.

Newton High School outside linebacker Kingsley Ejike and East Paulding RB-LB Kyler Neal pledged to Georgia State.

Ejike is a 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker who also claimed offers from Furman and Appalachian State.

“Georgia State is close to home, they’re moving up to the Sun Belt conference, and they have a new coaching staff,” Ejike said. “I feel like there’s the opportunity to play early.”

Neal could play several different positions in college.

Just got off the phone with coach miles, and I am now verbally committed to Georgia state #panthers

— Kyler Neal (@THEkylerNEAL) December 23, 2012

Continue reading Georgia State picks up two more football recruits »

UGA’s recruiting coordinator, Rodney Garner, was hired by Auburn on Thursday night.

How much will Garner’s departure affect the Bulldogs with recruiting?

It’s too soon to tell — but probably not as much as one would think.

Garner was considered one of the best recruiters in the business 10 years ago, but his impact with the team’s current recruiting class was limited, especially after the Bulldogs hired Daryl Jones as Director of On-Campus Recruiting. Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham are considered the team’s premier recruiters. Garner’s loss will likely be felt more as the team’s defensive line coach as he guided a steady flow of Bulldogs into prosperous NFL careers.

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If there is any impact with loss of Garner, it will be with UGA’s defensive line targets – since Garner coached the position with the Bulldogs.

Georgia …

Continue reading Who will UGA hire as its next recruiting coordinator? »

UGA is looking for a few good men to finish up its 2013 recruiting class.

The Bulldogs have 30 commitments, and will likely finish up with 33-35 by national signing day on Feb. 6.

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Which prospects is UGA targeting to fill out those last remaining spots? Recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner can’t reveal names due to NCAA rules. But he did mention some positions of need to the AJC this week:

“There’s still some defensive line spots that we need to fill because of the attrition that we’re going to experience there,” he said. “There’s probably an offensive tackle there. We definitely need a tackle more than a guard-type body. And another skill guy, the best available athlete we can find.”

Garner feels good so far about this year’s class – which will be Georgia’s largest since signing 31 in 2002.

“We’re excited about this class,” …

Continue reading UGA looking for a few good men to finish out 2013 class »

• UPDATE: Tahj Shamsid-Deenhad 31 points and 10 assists in Columbia’s 69-58 win over Miller Grove

One of the state’s top point guards will be on display when state champions collide at Miller Grove High School on Friday.

The Columbia boys play against Miller Grove at 7:30 p.m. Friday, preceded by the girls teams from both schools at 6 p.m. All four teams are defending state champions.

The best player on the court may be Columbia’s Tahj Shamsid-Deen, the 5-foot-9 point guard who has signed with Auburn.

“If Tahj was 6 feet, we wouldn’t be having a conversation about how good he is because everybody would know,” said former Columbia coach Phil McCrary, now an athletic coordinator for Dekalb County Schools. “The kid is so much heads and shoulders above so many point guards that people say are better than him. The only thing that coaches question is his size. But how can you question his size when the kid hasn’t been anything but a winner all of his life?”

Since his …

Continue reading Auburn signee leads team to win over state champs »

Columbia High School offensive tackle Eric Smith said he committed to Virginia on Friday.

The 6-foot-6, 275-pounder said he picked Virginia over offers from Alabama State, North Carolina, Florida International, Georgia State and Jacksonville State, among others.

“It was just the overall feeling I got from the coaches, the football program and academics at Virginia,” Smith told the AJC.

Smith was on the radar with a lot of teams, making unofficial visits to North Carolina, Auburn, Georgia and Jacksonville State. He decided to go ahead and commit without taking any official visits.

“The pressure was on me; they (Virginia) didn’t pressure me, though,” Smith said. “The fact is that time was winding down. I knew my spot could be filled by another athlete. I felt like I might as well commit because Virginia was the school I liked the most and had the best vibe about.”

Smith, who is the starting center for Columbia’s basketball team, has a 3.2 GPA.

Continue reading Georgia OL Eric Smith commits to Virginia »

UGA is expected to have its largest signing class in more than a decade, with 30-35 in February. On Thursday, Mark Richt commented on two junior college players that signed with the Bulldogs this week.

• DT Chris Mayes, 6-4, 330, Mississippi Gulf Coast junior college. Richt: “Chris Mayes of course is a guy we signed earlier and then he had to go the junior college route. If I’m not mistaken, I think Chris played his freshman year and the second year he redshirted. I’m pretty sure. I think he’s got three years to play three, like (Mark) Beard did. And that’s starting to happen more and more in the junior college ranks, which I think is fantastic for these guys. For a guy like that to come in and have three years of eligibility after graduating from junior college — and graduating at the midyear — (means) a guy gets spring ball and three seasons. It’s really about as good as it gets … He’s a big noseguard — well, D-lineman. I don’t know if he’ll end up being the nose or not, but …

Continue reading Mark Richt comments on UGA’s JC signees »

Mark Richt will have his best shot at 5-star Montravius Adams on Jan. 25 (AP)

Montravius Adams, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect by 247sports, will take one of his last recruiting trips before signing day to UGA.

The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle from Dooly County High School has selected four of his five official visits, according to his coach Jimmy Hughes. Adams will go to:

• Florida after the Under Armour game on Jan. 6
• Clemson on Jan. 11
• Alabama on Jan. 18
• UGA on Jan. 25
• TBA for Feb. 1

What about UGA? “My mom really likes Georgia, and they’re my hometown school,” Adams told the AJC on Wednesday. “I really like the coaches. I know their coaches aren’t about to leave. Their coaches are stable, which means they don’t leave a lot, like some of the other schools. Also, at Georgia, you can get a great education.”

Adams was also asked about a Dawg247 report that Rodney Garner, who is both UGA’s recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach, is a …

Continue reading 5-star DT Montravius Adams will visit UGA on Jan. 25 »